Cornwall

Charlotte Lawton

Charlotte is the Conde Nast Traveller chosen Specialist for Asia.

My strong sense of belonging in Asia stemmed from a childhood in Hong Kong and Nepal. My Grandmother was born in a tent in India. Some of my clearest memories are of walking through a dense, tropical jungle while hailstones the size of cricket balls rained down on us; of being carried on my father’s shoulders as we trekked through the Himalayas; my mother wearing flipflops on a snowy mountainside; and me falling into Dal Lake in Srinagar as we disembarked from our houseboat. 

John Faithfull

My love affair with travel began in a vintage Italian train carriage at sunset on a hot and sticky September evening in 1983. Sardined into a two-bench compartment, I’d spent five hours sharing sweaty thighs, broken-Italian pleasantries and furtive glances while rattling towards Turin, stopping at every wisteria-draped village along the way.

Illona Cross

Born in a small South African town, I have always followed my passion for nature and discovery. After studying Nature Conservation in Pretoria, I was one of the first women to complete a very tough cadetship in the Natal Parks Board. It was here where I cut my teeth in African wildlife management.